Chris Sterger (left) and Janet Sharif of East County said they were drawn to the races by the free admission on Wednesdays. (Earnie Grafton / U-T)

Rosie Goldstein doesn't mind being called a “cougar” – urban slang for “a woman who looks young, dresses young and dates young,” as a blogger recently put it.

So when the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club announced a competition for the title of Miss Cougar 2009 – as a promotion for its Cougar II Handicap Race – Goldstein immediately e-mailed her photo for consideration.

“I hold my head up proud,” said Goldstein, who described herself as in her 40s. “I have never felt more beautiful than this year.”

The cougar contest is one component of a multipronged strategy to promote the racetrack's glamorous social scene. With the nation in recession, Del Mar is among many tracks trying to drum up excitement among people who don't normally think about horse racing.

The club also is targeting value-conscious customers and families with free admission, half-priced hot dogs or free plush pony toys on certain days.

The seven-week season runs through Sept. 9.

Walker McBride, broadcast and development manager for the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, said he thinks the idea of a cougar contest is being well-received. While some might bristle at the term's sexual connotations, McBride defines it as “an attractive woman in her prime.”

The term seems to have entered the mainstream. “The Cougar,” a recently concluded reality show on cable's TV Land, had 40-year-old Stacey, an Arizona mother of four, choosing among 20-something men for a date.

“That's something we're not afraid to do: try new promotions and attract people to the races who have never been before,” McBride said.

The efforts seem to be working. There were 13,245 fans at the track yesterday, up from 9,213 the same day last year.

Tom Wold, 29, of San Diego arrived with four friends he had e-mailed about the contest. “I said, let's round up all my under-30 friends and let's get over here,” he said, holding up his beer. “We want to meet the winners and console the losers.”

For others, the promotion fell flat. Judy Willon, 49, of Encinitas said she thought the contest was “kind of tacky.” She and her husband, son and six friends did approve of the free admission and half-price concessions on Wednesdays, however.

“It sounded like a great deal,” Willon said as she sat with her group on fold-out chairs near the stretch.

Del Mar is known in the industry for its innovative marketing, said Keith Chamblin, senior vice president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association in Lexington, Ky.

“While not every track can get away with a Miss Cougar contest, no track has more to market than Del Mar,” Chamblin said. “They should be applauded for being innovative.”

Professor George Belch, head of the marketing department at San Diego State University, also praised the club's “excellent advertising campaigns.” “They've always been able to carry on that unique mystique that surrounds Del Mar,” he said. Belch said the cougar promotion is an appropriate nod to pop culture, but added, “They wouldn't want to push it too far, though.”